Thrillist New York
Emailed on: Tuesday February 10, 2009Teddy Boy
164 Allen Street, between Stanton and Rivington; 212.253.7770
1950s England left an underratedly sweet cultural heritage, from the Quarrymen, who became the Beatles, to skiffle music, which blessedly became silence. Grab threads from rock's proto-era, at Teddy Boy.
Teddy's an exposed brick and plank-floored covey slinging made-in-NYC gear inspired roughly by the outfits of 1950s UK teens -- known as Teddy Boys b/c they adopted Edwardian period style, not b/c they were clearly destined to star as a shirtless lumberjack in an all-male calendar. The modestly priced eponymous gear runs the gamut from checkered cashmere/wool suits, to cotton and silk blazers, to work-ready button-downs and jeans, to one outlandish outlier: a gold chain mail long shirt decorated with a red smiley face -- because any man impervious to a double-handed flamberge is a happy man. Teddy also helps you get nice w/ vintage shoes (leather oxfords and slip-ons, loafers...) and used boots (brown leather work boots, black punk lace boots, etc) sourced from a Midwest distributor who knows boots are made for walking, spraying with Lysol, and then reselling.
Teddy also offers an array of sunglasses, including several Wayfarers and Cazals -- not actually from the 50s, but still in keeping with another underrated heritage: not going blind.


